A livery driver was fatally shot in the face in Brooklyn yesterday while on his way to pick up a passenger, police said.
Carlos Nunez, 37, of Valley Stream, LI, was driving his 2004 Toyota Sienna minivan east on Decatur Street in Bushwick when he was shot at around 12:45 a.m.
He was on his way to pick up a fare, said Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
“The driver was dispatched there,” Kelly said. “It’s possible that the person who called for the cab knew who was going to be driving that cab.”
However, a co-worker of Nunez’s at the Natasha Car Service on Wilson Avenue, told The Post that Nunez was killed only after taking a personal call and asking for a break to meet up with someone.
“He said he’d be back in three minutes but never came back,” said the co-worker, who added that Nunez drove an assigned Lincoln Town Car for work but left for his “meeting” in his personal vehicle.
EMTs rushed Nunez to Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center, and it wasn’t until they were at the hospital that they realized he was shot.
He was pronounced dead on arrival.
Nunez worked sparingly the past six months for the car service, recently returning last week after being off the job for several months, co-workers said.